To say Eastern Washington women's basketball's defense was lockdown tonight (Feb. 23) would be an understatement. The Eagles defeated Weber State, 64-31, and held the Wildcats to a 22.2 shooting percentage in the game. Eastern is now 9-7 in Big Sky games and 16-10 overall. Weber St. falls to 2-14 in conference and 6-22 overall.

"Defense has been our focus this whole season, but these last few weeks we have been really trying to keep teams down on field goal percentage. We've been working hard to secure rebounds and secure possessions," head coach Joddie Gleason said. "We've defended well but we give up second chances, so we focused on finishing possessions with rebounds. We held them to 22 percent shooting for the game. It had a lot to do with our defense and I'm proud of our effort. It was nice to execute those plays to finish each quarter and allow Aaliyah [Alexander] to knock down those shots. "

Aaliyah Alexander scored a game-high 20 points on 8-of-12(66.7%) shooting, including 4-of-6(66.7%) from three.

"The big thing tonight was confidence. My coaches and teammates believe in me so I can step into that role and be confident to knock the shots down," Alexander said. "We are a team that fuels off of our defense. We all bought into that before this game, and it led to us having success."

It was a defensive battle to start the game, but Eastern grabbed the first four points, getting scores from Milly Knowles and Aaliyah Alexander. The Eagles extend its lead to 8-0 after Jaleesa Lawrence made an off-balance jumper. WSU made its first field goal of the game with 2:58 left in the quarter. The Wildcats would score again to cut the Eastern lead in half. In the final possession of the half, Alexander drained a three as time expired to give the Eagles an 11-4 lead at the break.

Eastern shot 33.3 percent in the quarter and stonewalled WSU to a 13.3 percentage.  

The second quarter started with both defenses again limiting any easy shots. Jacinta Buckley found room in the paint for her first score of the game. The Eagles maintained their advantage as Jamie Loera got into the action with four points for a 17-8 lead with 5:26 left in the half. Lawrence connected from three to extend the lead for Eastern. Like the first quarter, Alexander found space behind the arc and hit a three with seconds left. The Eagles led 25-12 over the Wildcats.

In the quarter, Eastern shot 35.7 and WSU improved to 33.3 percent.  

Alexander carried over the offense to the second half score the team's first seven points. The Eagles had a 32-14 lead with 7:27 on the clock. The Wildcats responded with a 6-0 run get the game back under control. The hope was short lived for WSU, as Eastern organized a 9-1 stretch to lead by 19 at 40-21 and 2:57 on the clock. The Eagles then closed the half on a 7-0 run to lead 45-21.

Eastern had its best shooting quarter of the game, finishing with a 46.7 percentage from the floor. The Wildcats were limited to a 25.0 shooting percentage.

With control of the game, Eastern continued to score well in the fourth quarter. Lawrence connected for another three and Alexander added one as well. The Eagles had blown the game open, leading 54-23 with 6:50 on the clock. Eastern cruised through the rest of the game and winning 64-31. The Eagles shot 46.2 percent in the final quarter, while WSU was held to 18.2 percent.

Eastern finished the game with a 40.4 shooting percentage. The Wildcats managed only a 22.2 percent against the Eagle defense.

Key Statistics
Eastern Washington won the rebounding battle, 47 to 33, including an 11 to eight advantage in offensive rebounds. The Eagles had a 13 to 2 advantage in second chance points. Jaleesa Lawrence and Jamie Loera each had seven rebounds, while Gabrielle Jung and Camille Jentzsch each had six.

As a team, Eastern had five blocks in the game with five different players recording one in the game including Milly Knowles, Lawrence, Lorea, Jung and Jacinta Buckley..

Alexander recorded her second 20-point game of her career, with her first game coming against Utah State (12/20) earlier this season.

Loera scored 12 points and Lawrence added 10 in the game. Loera tallied a game-high six assists in the game.

The Eagles scored 19 points off of 17 Wildcat turnovers.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will play its final home game of the regular season on Saturday (Feb. 25) against Idaho State at 2 p.m. Pacific Time.